from the don't-mess-with-the-favorites dept

It first bears mentioning my very favorite article every week since its inception is "Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt". Primarily because I'm always hoping to 'place' on it again. Even without my nigh-lackluster comments, it's nice to see what the 'wisdom of the masses' pushed into the most insightful and funniest categories.

That having been said, on to the main enchilada! As luck would have it, my rapid perusal of the week's articles yielded exactly ten results which stuck in my mind for a variety of reasons, and so we'll do a top-ten style countdown (please don't sue me if you work for the "Late Show".)

Nina's video is once again availble in Germany. Never knew Nina was cute in a Texas-soccermon kinda way. Also, her comics are particularly illustrative of certain issues and have a style quite their own. Though, I myself am more of an XKCD and SMBC kinda guy.

Can you believe the court says 'possible spying' is no harm? Kinda like saying "so yeah, this guy installed cameras in your sisters bedroom and bathroom--but that doesn't mean he's watching them. Come to court when you can prove he's watching." This line of stories strikes me; primarily due to the absurdity of the result--also, why aren't these people just formatting the laptop and installing a nice free operating system like Ubuntu or Mint? That would fix 'em in a jiffy.

Once again the notable quotable Kevin Smith is in the news for taking actions to go directly to his fans--an amazing phenomenon for a film-maker (name two others who do that). The new site is worth checking--if only to see the "made with love" sticker. This is, of course, in addition to his podcast, iPhone app, and other offerings that I'm not taking the time to list. I've got a weak spot for Kevin Smith. He's an amazing public speaker, makes quite good movies, and if he wasn't such an ecstatic sports fan I'd still be following him on Twitter.

Children of America trying to make money, police and politicians trying to take money. An illustrative tale of absurdities in our legal system, but I guess it's never too early to start beating the "obey or else" mantra into the minds of the young.

An insightful look at the changing nature of Google with a particular commentary on the nature and quality of their customer service. I've been a fan of Google since the time when people used to say "Google, what's that?" Being somebody with an engineering mindset, I've usually found everything they made to be pretty much the way I would have made it. I'll miss their 'awkward engineer' larval stage--but I look forward to when they finish this cocoon stage and then move on towards founding the 'Federation of Planets.'

How many digital subrscribers does the NYTimes really have? This is a tale of cognitive dissonance and spin. Does the NYTimes really have the numbers? All I know is whoever took the money to build the paywall, convincing the NY Times they were a competent contractor, should have a job in sales instead--and never ever code any stupid thing ever again.

Pretty much everything you need to know about this story is right there in the headline. This punny headline might have as well have read: FBI arrests random people, expects "internet problem" to get better. "Members of Anonymous" always cracks me up too. Did anybody check their membership cards?

This illustrative article is a harrowing tale of laws being stretched to abuse the populace, and in this case one particular man. Evil is perpetrated thru the inaction of good men. This guy without doubt has some problems, but at least he's doing something. Besides, when's the last time you saw a protagonist with the same name as a Legend of Zelda boss?

Convincing fake Apple stores in China! Sure look like real iPads they're selling. If only they'd called it the 'Snapple' store, they could've been in an entirely different mess. The sheer chutzpah, gall, and inventiveness of makers of fake products is a smiling reminder of the unquashable spirit of humans.

I like this story--someone who gave a little tit-for-tat (no pun) to the TSA and will not be absurdly punished for it. Though sadly, she's saved by a technicality rather than the morality of the District Attorney.

Remember: some people are like slinkies. They're pretty much good for nothing, but still bring a smile to your face when they fall down the stairs.

Given that we know the per song extortion, if we can find how the precise file size, we could calculate a average "cost per byte" and "cost per bit" to determine how much she's being charged (on average) for every 1 or 0.

Then, compare/contrast to the cost of other things (Photoshop, or some such) provided we also calculate the cost per bit of those as well.

As governments become less necessary (and this becomes apparent to the public at large) their death-throes will get worse, as they vainly struggle to scare and convince everybody they're still needed...

Orly? It's the same crap that's been going on forever: "Chess will lead the the downfall of society" "Electric lights will only promote rape" "Rock and roll music is the leading cause of moral bankruptcy" "Violent video games create psychopathic murders" "Teleportation will be the leading cause of bank theft" (etc etc ad nauseaum).